Need for Social Media Presence

At the conference today, there were two themes emphasized in both workshops I attended, and also during the publisher's panel.

(1) The publishing industry is still in turmoil, as it has been for several years, as the industry strives to understand, adapt to and accommodate the rapid changes in technology.

(2) The continuing increase in the utilization of the social networks (facebook, twitter, flicker, etc) within the publishing industry. I heard discussions about techniques for branding, badging, linking, etc. that were totally beyond my comprehension. But the overall message was this: any writer who wants to build readership, or a fan base, or make the right contacts had better learn to utilize these tools, because the publishing industry is quickly becoming almost totally dependent on them.

One recurrent suggestion: google some of the current successful authors, and see how they are using websites, blogs, twitter, fan bases etc. to enhance their resumes, and most important, to sell books.